Outboard bearing for tension reels



y 2 7 J. w. OBRIEN 3,317,158

OUTBOARD BEARING FOR TENSION REELS Filed July 16, 1965 FIG. I

INVENTOR. JEREMIAH W. O'BRIEN HIS TORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 2, 1967 J.w. OBRIEN OUTBOARD BEARING FOR TENSION REELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July16, 1965 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. JEREMIAH W. O'BRIEN HIS ATTORNEY FIG. 3

United States Patent 3,317,158 OUTBOARD BEARING FOR TENSION REELSJeremiah Wagner OBrien, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to United Engineeringand Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaFiled July 16, 1965, Ser. No. 472,595 Claims priority, application GreatBritain, Aug. 11, 1964, 32,588/ 64 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-781) Thisinvention relates to a reel for coiling and/or uncoiling strip materialand, more particularly, to such a reel having an overhung mountedmandrel including means for resisting the deflection of the overhangingend thereof.

Reels of this type are frequently employed to coil metallic stripmaterial as it issues under tension from a rolling mill and includes, asalready indicated, an overhung rotatable coiling mandrel upon which thestrip material is wound to form a coil. The mandrel is received in andsupported at one end by a stationary housing which, on many occasions,contains drive gearing for rotating the mandrel.

In order to reduce excessive wear and breakage of the mandrel, theoutboard end of the mandrel, i.e., the end opposite the supported end,when the length of the mandrel is substantial, is usually engaged by anoutboard supporting device that is quickly removable from the end topermit the axial removal of a coil formed on the mandrel. In this mannera large extent of the deflection or bending of the mandrel resultingfrom the forces imposed thereon by reason of weight or the coiled stripand the tension applied to the strip is substantially minimized.Outboard support devices become important as the forces involvedincrease, such as, when wide strip is coiled into extremely largediameter coils.

Prior art devices for supporting the outboard end of the mandrel havenot been wholly acceptable for a number of reasons. One reason hasreference to the limitation that because of excessive wear anddistortion of parts the consistent and quick registry of the outboardbearing support with the end of the mandrel was not possible. Stillfurther, known support devices were not sufficiently rigid to withstandthe deflection forces involved, nor were they quickly retractable topermit axial removal of a coil from the mandrel. As to prior art devicesthat utilized a saddle-type support for the outboard end of the mandrel,they only afforded support in one direction. Finally, great difficultywas experienced in providing a device that would adapt to reels designedto shift to allow for strip guiding.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a devicefor supporting the outboard end of a reel or the like that will overcomeeach and every one of the above-mentioned shortcomings of known devices.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an outboardsupport for a reel constructed to be free from excessive wear anddistortion of parts, in which the support is constructed as an integralpart of the reel housing wherein its quick and accurate registry withthe mandrel is assured.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a unitaryreel and outboard support whereby the reel and the support can beshifted axially as a unit to allow for strip guiding.

According to one form of the present invention, there is provided a reelfor coiling strip material comprising a base for slidably supporting ahousing, a mandrel rotatably supported by said housing and over-hangingone side thereof, means for supporting the outboard end of said mandrelrigidly connected to said housing, said supporting means including anarm having a portion engageable with the outboard end of the mandrel,means for positioning said portion of said arm into a supportingposition with the mandrel and operative to withdraw said arm clear ofsaid mandrel.

These objects as well as the various other features and advantages ofthe invention will become apparent when the following description isread in conjunction with the accompanying drawing of which:

FIGURE 1 is an end view of a coiling reel incorporating the features ofthe present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a plan sectional view taken along lines II-II of FIGURE 1,and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along lines IIIIII ofFGURE 1.

With reference now to the drawings and, particularly, FIGURES 2 and 3,there is illustrated a strip-coiling reel 10 which includes a mandrel 11received in and supported at one end by a housing 12. While not shown inthe drawings, contained within the housing 12 is suitable gearingconnected to the mandrel 11 for rotating it during the coilingoperation. As shown in FIGURE 1, the housing 12 is constructed withopposed horizontally extending projections 13. These projections areeach slidably received in bearing-lined surfaces 14 and 15 formed invertically arranged base members 16 and 17 which are, in turn, securedat their lower ends to the foundation,

With reference again to the housing 12, a bracket 18 is formed on thebottom surface thereof to which there is connected the rod of a. pistoncylinder assembly 19. Operation of this piston cylinder assemblyprovides axial adjustment to the housing 12 and, thus, the mandrel 11 bysliding the projections 13 over the bearing lined surfaces 14 and 15 ofthe base members 16 and 17. As heretofore indicated, this shifting ofthe mandrel by appropriate automatic controls, well known in the art,assures the formation of a straight sided coil and allowance is madeshould the strip wander transversely.

As one views FIGURES l and 3, there is provided an elongated T-shapedbed 21 secured to the foundation and arranged below and at theright-hand side of the mandrel 11. A tie arm 22 is slidably received onthe bed 21 and is constructed with opposed longitudinally extendingslots 23 and 24 into which there is received the upper portion of theT-shaped bed 21. The tie arm 22 is employed to interconnect the housing12 with an outboard support apparatus for the mandrel 11.

Turning now specifically to the outboard support shown in the drawings,this support includes a bell crank arm 26 carried at its lower end on ahorizontally extending shaft 27. A splined or keyed interconnection isprovided between the arm 26 and the shaft 27 so as to permit relativeaxial movement, yet, prohibit relative rotational movement. The shaft 27is rotatably mounted in spacedapart bores 28 and 29 formed in uprightportions of the tie arm 22. One end of the shaft 27 is constructed toextend through the bore 29 and to this end arms 31 are rigidly attached.Clovis-mounted to one of these arms 31 is a piston cylinder assembly 32having its rod connected to the bell crank arm 26. Also secured to theother arm 31 is the rod of a piston cylinder assembly 33 that is mountedto the tie arm 22. Operation of the piston cylinder assembly 32 effectslongitudinal movement of the bell crank arm 26 on the shaft 27, whileoperation of the piston cylinder assembly 33 imparts rotational movementto the shaft 27 and the bell crank arm 26.

With reference now to FIGURES 2 and 3, a circular recess 34 is formed inthe upper end of the bell crank arm 26 into which is received ananti-friction bearing 35. The extreme outer end of the mandrel has acylindrical portion 36 over which the bearing 35 is positioned tosupport the outboard end of the reel. A registering means is provided toassure accurate positioning of the 3 bell crank arm 26 with respect tothe reel. This means includes a stud 37 which is aflixed to the arm 26and receivable in a bore 38 formed in an upright member 39 that is partof and projects from the tie arm 22.

With reference now to a brief description of the operation of thepresent invention, let it be assumed that the outboard support apparatushas been retracted to the right, away from the mandrel 11 as one viewsFIGURE 1. This will allow a coil formed on the mandrel 11 to be removedtherefrom which is usually accomplished by a coil stripper car. It willbe noted that such a car is shown in FIG- URE 1. When it is desired toposition the outboard support in its operative position, viz., in theposition shown in the drawings, the piston cylinder assembly 33 will beoperated to rotate the arm 26 so that anti-friction hearing 35 locatedat the extreme upper end of the arm will be positioned approximately infront of the mandrel 11. At the same time the stud 37 will be broughtinto a position directly in front of the bore 38. At this point thepiston cylinder assembly 32 will be operated to advance the arm 26towards the mandrel 11 in which connection the stud 37 will first enterthe bore 38 and automatically locate the anti-friction bearing 35relative to the adjacent cylindrical portion 36 of the mandrel so thatas the arm is further moved towards the mandrel and as the studcontinues into the bore, the bearing 35 will be automatically placed onthe cylindrical portion 36. Thus, it will be appreciated that thepresent invention provides an arrangement whereby the anti-frictionbearing 35 is quickly, accurately, consistently and automaticallyregistered with the mandrel 11.

It should also be noted that the rigid support between the reel housing12 and the outboard support by virtue of the tie arm 22 resists anyinfluence due to Wear and distortion of the parts from preventing theautomatic registration of the outboard support with the mandrel.

In the operative position of the outboard support the mandrel 11 isrigidly supported by the bell crank arm 26 as previously indicated. Withthe elements located in this position, axial positioning of the mandrelto assure the formation of straight-sided coils may be accomplishedWithout the outboard support becoming disengaged from the mandrel. Thisis accomplished by reason of the tie arm 22 which interconnects themandrel 11 and the housing 12 with the outboard support apparatus.

It will be appreciated that various other forms of the present inventionother than what has been illustrated herein can be employed withoutdeparting from the scope thereof and that the invention may be employedin cooperation with devices other than reels of the type herein referredto for the purpose of explaining the invention.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that, Withinthe scope of the ap pended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A reel for coiling and/or uncoiling metallic strip material incidentto processing in a rolling mill comprisa housing,

a mandrel rotatably supported by said housing at its inboard end andhaving an outboard strip receiving end overhanging one side of saidhousing, said strip receiving end of said mandrel being subject toforces inducing deflection thereof,

a support means for the outboard end of said mandrel for resisting saiddeflection and arranged so as not to interfere with strip passing to andfrom said mandrel,

means for positioning said support means into a sup porting positionwith said mandrel and,

a member rigidly uniting said housing and said support means wherebywear and distortion of said mandrel and said support means will noteffect the quick and accurate positioning of said support relative tosaid mandrel,

said member carrying said support means and arranged at one side of saidmandrel in a spaced parallelly extending relation below the mandrel.

2. A reel according to claim 1 further comprising:

a base for slidably supporting said housing,

a base for slidably supporting said support means, and

means for positioning said housing and, hence, said mandrel axially in alongitudinal direction whereby said support means will also move withsaid housing and mandrel.

3. A reel according to claim 1 in which said support means and saidmeans positioning said support means includes:

an arm engageable with said mandrel,

a shaft carrying said arm,

means for imparting rotation movement to said arm,

and

means for imparting longitudinal movement to said arm in an axialdirection relative to said shaft, where by successive operation of saidlast two mentioned means effect quick registration of said arm with saidmandrel.

4. A reel according to claim 1 in which said support means includes:

an arm,

a shaft carrying said arm at one portion of said arm,

bearing means at a second portion of said arm engageable with saidmandrel, and

means associated with said arm and said member for accurate registrationof said arm with the mandrel, whereby said arm is swingable to aposition remote from the mandrel for removing the strip therefrom.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,403,123 1/1922Leedy 242-129 2,028,422 1/1936 Talbot 242-78 2,144,094 1/1939 Wood242-129 X FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

N. L. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner.

1. A REEL FOR COILING AND/OR UNCOILING METALLIC STRIP MATERIAL INCIDENTTO PROCESSING IN A ROLLING MILL COMPRISING: A HOUSING, A MANDRELROTATABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID HOUSING AT ITS INBOARD END AND HAVING ANOUTBOARD STRIP RECEIVING END OVERHANGING ONE SIDE OF SAID HOUSING, SAIDSTRIP RECEIVING END OF SAID MANDREL BEING SUBJECTED TO FORCES INDUCINGDEFLECTION THEREOF, A SUPPORT MEANS FOR THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID MANDRELFOR RESISTING SAID DEFLECTION AND ARRANGED SO AS NOT TO INTERFERE WITHSTRIP PASSING TO AND FROM SAID MANDREL, MEANS FOR POSITIONING SAIDSUPPORT MEANS INTO A SUPPORTING POSITION WITH SAID MANDREL AND, A MEMBERRIGIDLY UNITING SAID HOUSING AND SAID SUPPORT MEANS WHEREBY WEAR ANDDISTORTION OF SAID MANDREL AND SAID SUPPORT MEANS WILL NOT EFFECT THEQUICK AND ACCURATE POSITIONING OF SAID SUPPORT RELATIVE TO SAID MANDREL,SAID MEMBER CARRYING SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND ARRANGED AT ONE SIDE OF SAIDMANDREL IN A SPACED PARALLELLY EXTENDING RELATION BELOW THE MANDREL.